Jonathan GeddesGlasgow and west reporter
APB PRWhen Shay O’Dowd was young, he dreamed of success on the football pitch.
But the Glasgow native is now being tipped to score in Scotland’s music scene, with sold-out gigs and an award already to his name.
That prize was for Breakthrough Artist at the Scottish Music Awards in November, an honour previously given to the likes of Lewis Capaldi, Joesef and Paolo Nutini.
Now the 22-year-old is looking towards the future, having swapped football aspirations for working on songs with Jamie Squire – the touring keyboardist and guitarist with pop giants The 1975.
The singer told BBC Scotland News he only really developed an interest in music as a teenager, having hated piano lessons as a child.
“I was mad for football growing up,” he recalls.
“I enjoyed music but just like in the same way everyone does. My parents had got me piano lessons, but I am not a rote learner at all, so I really didn’t like that.
“It wasn’t until high school when I started just writing my own stuff. Then I saw the band Picture This at my first gig and I thought that’s amazing – I didn’t want to go to uni after that, I wanted to do something musical instead.”
APB PRThat did not mean Shay totally turned his back on education. Instead, he studied at a music college in Glasgow while writing more songs and starting to play gigs.
It was only when he penned Since We Divided – a big swelling ballad with piano and emotive vocals about a teenage relationship – that Shay started to gain confidence he could succeed with music.
The key moment came when the song was played to his parents, and they didn’t respond with any criticism.
“They would always say ‘oh, this is good, but…’ and then explain what I could do different,” he laughs.
“This time there was no but – they just said they thought it was really good. I played it to others and got the same reaction, and for me, that was the first decent song I ever wrote.
“Everything before that was not good enough, and for Since We Divided was me going to myself ‘I can write a good song – so I can probably write others.’
“It was the turning point where I thought I could have a crack at it as a songwriter.”
PA MediaHis parents have offered support, as well as taking on less than glamourous tasks – like his mum holding an umbrella up during the filming of a music video.
However he is starting to gain plenty of backers elsewhere, having secured a management deal with the same team who look after Glasgow electropop singer Joesef.
Like Joesef, he announced a gig at the city’s famed King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut venue before officially releasing any music – and like Joesef, he promptly sold out the show.
On Tuesday he returns to the city for a pre Christmas show, this time performing at the larger St Luke’s venue in the east end and bolstered by the release of two EPs over the past year, Growing Pains and Say It Now.
APB PRGrowing buzz around Shay has given him the chance to work with others too, including Jamie Squire, a regular touring member of the 1975 and the Strictly Come Dancing house band.
They have collaborated on songs that he hopes will see the light of day next year, and he feels the experience brought him out of his comfort zone.
“The 1975 are one of my favourite bands and I’ve learned so much from it.
“You never notice you’re working within a comfort zone until someone says ‘oh, you should try this’, and then you step past that – which is what happened with Jamie.”
As you might expect from a big fan of Lewis Capaldi and Paolo Nutini, he tends to write songs to stir the emotions, heavy on piano, acoustic guitars and storytelling.
“My job is to be a storyteller,” he says.
“I write from personal experience a lot but my life is not that exciting so I don’t want to write from just my perspective and nothing else.
“Some songs are real things that have happened to me and real things I have felt. Other songs are more about things around me – like a mate in a long distance relationship.
“Everyone’s got a story to tell and I like to look around and see what is out there.”
